The parable of the talents

JESUS told His disciples this parable: “The kingdom of heaven will be as when a man who was going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one — to each according to his ability. Then he went away. Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. Likewise, the one who received two made another two. But the man who re¬ceived one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money. After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five. He said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’… Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.’ His master said to him in reply, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’

Use it or lose it! Who is the “master” in the story? Is he the “Lord”— the heavenly Father or the Lord Jesus? The third servant describes him as a demanding master: arrogant, opportunistic, greedy, harvesting where he did not plant and gathering where he did not scatter. And so we think again: Jesus may just be plucking out of life a greedy character who seeks to enrich himself further.

What about the servants? In the story, the master praises the first two servants for doubling the talents entrusted to them. Are they worthy of imitation? They may have been just as ruthless and unconscionable as their master who may be approving them for imitating him. Like master, like servants! And the third servant? He may be seen as the one who does the honorable thing. Jesus’ audience probably realizes that what the third servant does with the talent is both legal and safe.

In the parable, the focus is on the third servant who is condemned as “wicked and lazy” and whose talent is taken away from him. The opportunistic and hard-nosed master expected him to take risks and obtain results, not to play it safe by hiding the talent in the ground.

This may be the view of the greedy master, but there is a grain of truth to it. In life, if one does not take risks, one eventually becomes a loser. “Use it or lose it!” goes a saying.

And this may be true of eternal life, too. Jesus himself can be regarded as a model of “reckless living”—he is careless about his life and reputation by associating with sinners and outcasts, by healing on the Sabbath, by criticizing the religious leaders. Is he not telling us by word and example that one cannot save anything without risking it?